Anne Johnson October 26, 2010 

Dr. Bea Baaden LIS 620 

 

 Differentiated Instruction 

 

Differentiated instruction (DI) is a student-centered method of teaching that endeavors to 
maximize success by recognizing that students have different ways of learning, different interests, and 
different ways of responding to instruction (Diane Ravitch, author of EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education 
terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon, as quoted in www.ascd.org, an educational website). It 
accommodates those differences by identifying the particular strengths, interests and learning profile of 
each student, and adjusting their lessons accordingly. Differentiation is concept-driven and stresses the 
study of topics in depth, rather than the rote memorization of facts. Carol Ann Tomlinson, a highly 
respected leader in the area of DI, states that the methodology attempts to meet students where they 
are in the learning process and move them along as quickly and as far as possible in the context of a 
mixed-ability classroom (Education Digest, 2000). In the classroom, there are different avenues to 
acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products so that each 
student can learn (Tomlinson, 2001). 

The idea of differentiated instruction is not a new one in education; in the one-room 
schoolhouse of the past, the teacher had to find a way to meet the needs of students working in a wide 
range of abilities. In an informative and entertaining journal article from the 1950s, the author outlines 
the history of reform efforts aimed at making education more individualized (Washburn, 1953). Based 
on the research of the time, classrooms were said to contain students whose Mental Ages covered at 
least a four-year spread. From the Project Method to ability grouping, we read how an evolving 
understanding of learning and development began to shape educators efforts to meet the needs of all 
students. In chapter 6 of our text (Thomas, 2004), we learned of the zone of proximal development as 


defined by the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (who lived from 1896  1934 but whose work is most 
frequently quoted from a compilation of essays published in 1978), which refers to the level of 
potential development a student may attain when the teacher and the learner are working together on 
lessons that build upon each other, creating scaffolds to learning. DI is a natural outgrowth from the 
work of Vygotsky, who believed that learners must interact socially with their teacher and their peers in 
order to reach that zone of proximal development (Thomas, p.107). 

In a video posted on YouTube entitled Carol Ann Tomlinson on Critical Transformations, Dr. 
Tomlinson remembers a turning point in her career, one which led to her strong belief in the power of 
DI. She was a fairly new teacher at a middle school, and looked to a particular student to smile and nod 
during her lessons, taking that as a sign that she was doing her job. When the student ran away from 
home and the police came looking for clues as to where she could have gone, Dr. Tomlinson was 
disheartened to realize that she knew absolutely nothing about the student and couldnt help at all. 
From that point on, she was determined to put her students first and learn all she could about them. Dr. 
Tomlinson maintains a website, www.diffcentral.com, in conjunction with the Curry School of Education 
at the University of Virginia. The website states that differentiation is responsive teaching rather than 
one size fits all teaching (Tomlinson, 2005). To put it yet another way, it means that teachers proactively 
plan varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they will 
show what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as 
he or she can, as efficiently as possible (Tomlinson, 2003). In order for those varied approaches to be 
successful, the students (and their unique circumstances) must remain at the center of any lesson plan. 

There are three main components of DI, which are alluded to in the descriptions above. They 
are: 1) content; 2) process; and 3) product. Content is what the students need to learn - the 
curriculum as required by learning standards. Content can be differentiated by level of difficulty within 
the same unit of study, by providing different sources, and by requiring different results from its 


interpretation, such as reading for factual information versus patterns or themes (Bush, 2006). Process 
refers to the manner in which the student learns the content. It can be differentiated using strategies 
such as journals, graphic organizers, learning centers, etc. Lessons, or instructional activities, are 
flexible, can be tiered, and may take the form of inquiry-based, problem-based or project-based 
instruction. Flexible grouping is consistently used. The product demonstrates the mastery of the 
content; it can take the form of tests, evaluations, reports, etc. Assessment is important to DI; it allows 
the teacher to develop challenging and engaging tasks for each learner, ensuring they are designed 
based on their best understanding. In a June 2008 article in Teacher Librarian, Carol Koechlin and Sandi 
Zwaan describe a fourth component to DI  learning environment. Classroom conditions can set the 
tone and expectations of learning, and can provide tables for group work or centers, a quiet corner for 
reading, and a computer or multimedia area. 

DI has an impact on school librarians in their roles as teachers, instructional partners and 
information specialists. In the teacher role, the librarian can differentiate content by assembling 
resources that are meaningful to a range of abilities at varying levels of difficulty in all subject areas such 
as fiction, nonfiction, periodicals, databases, reference materials and websites. She can introduce 
students to a wide range of reading genres and develop reading lists and pathfinders to support specific 
interests, lessons or units. The teacher-librarian also differentiates through product by helping students, 
and their teachers, design webpages or quests, power-point presentations, posters and web 2.0 
applications. She can also encourage growth by helping students with letters, proposals, surveys and 
blogs. The process component of DI affects the school librarian in her role as instructional partner. She 
should facilitate an understanding of DI and how it can best be utilized. She can collaborate with the 
teachers to design and provide scaffolding and assessment tools; resourced-based challenges such as 
research projects and inventions; information literacy instruction; instructional strategies for 


Differentiation Model
interdisciplinary learning; flexible groupings for learning experiences such as discussion groups, blogs 
and wikis; and assessment tools and strategies that ensure student growth. 

 

 http://www.diffcentral.com/model.html 

As information specialist, the school librarian differentiates through the learning environment 
she creates in the library. The model of a learning commons is ideal for differentiating instruction. The 
librarian can arrange spaces for group and individual studying; design virtual library spaces for study and 
support; and provide students with self-evaluation tools to encourage improvement. She strives to 


tailor her collection to the needs of her learning community, and attends professional development 
seminars to stay current with strategies, education databases and websites. 

Differentiated instruction recognizes students varying background knowledge, readiness, 
language, preferences in learning and interests, and requires their teachers to react accordingly. 
Students and teachers (including school librarians) are in constant collaboration in order to monitor 
progress and adjust learning activities as needed. More than just another teaching strategy, 
differentiation is a way of life in the classroom, and in the school library as well. 

 

 

 Bibliography 

 

Burns, J. (2004). An Analysis of the Implementation of Differentiated Instruction in a Middle School and High School and the 
Effects of Implementation on Curriculum Content and Student Achievement. Doctoral Dissertation. Seton Hall University. 

Bush, G. (2006). Differentiated Instruction. School Library Media Activities Monthly 23:3, 43-45. 

Harada, V. and Yoshina, J. (2004). Inquiry Learning through Librarian-Teacher Partnerships. Washington, Ohio: Linworth 
Publishing. 

http://www.diffcentral.com/model/html 

Koechlin, C. and Zwaan, S. (2008). Everyone Wins: Differentiation in the School Library. Teacher Librarian. 35:5, 8-13. 

Thomas, N. (2004). Information Literacy and Information Skills Instruction. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. 

Tomlinson, C. (2000) Differentiated instruction: can it work? The Education Digest. 65:5, 25-31. 

--------.(2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms (2nd Ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for 
Supervision and Curriculum Development. 

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard 
University Press. 

Washburn, C. (1953). Adjusting the Program to the Child. Educational Leadership. December, 138-147. 

www.ascd.org 

www.youtube.com Carol Ann Tomlinson on Critical Transformations. Retrieved 10/20/10. 

 

 

 

 


